reagan's film roles became fewer in the late 1950s; he moved to television as a host and frequent performer for general electric theater. reagan appeared in over 50 television dramas. reagan served as the president of the screen actors guild (sag) from 1947 until 1952, and again from 1959 to 1960. in 1952, a hollywood dispute raged over his granting of a sag blanket waiver to mca, which allowed it to both represent and employ talent for its burgeoning tv franchises. he went from host and program supervisor of general electric theater to producing and claiming an equity stake in the tv show itself. at one point in the late 1950s, reagan was earning approximately $125,000 per year ($800,000 in XX dollars). his final work as a professional actor was as host and performer on the popular death valley days television series. reagan's final big-screen appearance came in the 1964 film the killers, a remake of an earlier version, based on a short story by ernest hemingway. reagan portrayed a mob chieftain. this film, the first made-for-tv movie, was originally produced for nbc, but the network's censor found it too violent. reagan's co-stars were john cassavetes, lee marvin, and angie dickinson.
in total reagan boasts a fairly prodigious credit history of 102 activities ranging from cowpoke to a cameo appearance in spies like us.
on november 5, 1994, reagan announced that he had been diagnosed with alzheimer's disease. he informed the nation of his condition via a hand-written letter. with his trademark optimism, he stated in conclusion: "i now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. i know that for america there will always be a bright dawn ahead. thank you, my friends. may god always bless you." [12]
as the years went on, the disease slowly destroyed his mental capacity, forcing him to live in quiet isolation. on february 6, XX, reagan reached the age of 90 and was only the third former us president to reach that age - the other two being john adams and herbert hoover. since the former president had a hip operation three weeks prior to his 90th birthday and was suffering from alzheimer's disease for the past seven years, his 90th birthday was to be a low-key celebration with his family at his home in bel-air. nancy reagan, the wife of the former us president, told cnn's larry king that very few visitors were allowed access to her husband because she felt that "ronnie would want people to remember him as he was." nancy reagan went on to say that as the only ailment he had was the alzheimer's disease he could live to be 100. people who had visited the former us president in his home said the disease was so well advanced that he was unable to recognize any of them and he could not remember anything about his days as us president.